I don't own anything. All the characters belong to Kurt Sutter. I'm just playing with his toys.
Okay, I have no idea where this story came from. It popped into my head and wouldn't leave. I've already got about seven more chapters written, so depending on the reaction, I'll post the rest. I don't think I want to post a story that no one's reading. I'm not saying I want a hundred reviews by X date or I'll delete it. I'd be happy with one. If one person's reading, I'll post it for that person.
1. Weird
They had lost a lot to go legit. The clubhouse was still being rebuilt and Wendy had sold them the property on the cheap. They didn't know what she'd done with the house, but it was all over and done with and things were quiet. It was strange for him, living a mundane existence where there weren't shots being popped off or retaliation needing to be dealt. He missed it, but he liked that he didn't have to worry about getting locked up anymore. Diosa Norte and Red Woody made him enough money on top of the shop that he didn't need to worry about money as much as he thought he would. It was just the boredom and the quiet that was a nuisance. So he spent all his time fixing cars and building bikes and watching life in Charming by at an agonizing pace. And he wondered idly if it was time to go Nomad.
Venus Van Dam handled the paperwork in the office and she was good at it. She was also miles friendlier than Gemma and they had a lot of repeat customers that he attributed to her. Things seemed much less dramatic now that she was here. And cleaner. And more organized. He was surprised by how much that had reduced his stress level. And because of Venus, Tig had stepped up and work got done on time and there was an actual schedule. Tig liked to bitch about giving him overtime and he just scowled and went back to work as if it hadn't happened. Happy was one of their more reliable and talented mechanics, he didn't worry about not getting overtime. Besides, Tig spent most of his time dealing with the business side of Diosa. Sure, Lyla and Venus made sure that the girls were happy and that customers were getting what they wanted, but Tig made sure they weren't getting roughed up and he actually took the time to talk to the girls like they were people now instead of just a bunch of pussy.
Chibs spent a lot of time going between Red Woody and Diosa Norte with Alvarez. That was a friendship he had never expected. The pair weren't going to go golfing on the weekends, but sometimes Alvarez asked about things like Kerrianne's desire to come stateside for college and he realized that the two weren't just doing business anymore. And then one day Alvarez asked how Lyla and the kids were and he figured it was probably time he actually started paying attention more. Chibs bagging Opie's Old Lady was something he would not have seen coming in a million years. He had to wonder how that went down. But Chibs never talked about it and nobody ever asked.
It wasn't that he gave a particular shit about their personal lives. Rat and his Old Lady had broken up and made up so many times he just assumed they were "off" until the fucker finally slapped a crow on her ass. Quinn and Montez...well, he didn't give a shit what they did. Chuck was still Chuck. Everything just kept going after Jax died. It just went at a snail's pace. A really slow, half dead snail's pace.
He hadn't killed anyone in months. It made him antsy. And that always made him the feel the intense urge to clean something. As a consequence of the slow pace of smalltown life finally overtaking their MC business as well, Happy and most of the other guys spent their time downtown on the strip watching cars pass while they sat at the bar or in the booths watching Chuck dish out ice cream cones and sundaes to the locals who had grown brave enough to enter. He'd built up a nice little clientele. Brooke was always nearby to help and it was because of her that for awhile they'd had a small posse of rebellious skateboarding teenagers who'd needed to be put in their place when the third one had grabbed her ass. Rat had snapped the boy's finger at the local skate park when they rolled up to them one night before family dinner.
But the most noticeable patron at Scoops was a dog. A big, ugly, overly friendly dog that always showed up around lunch and didn't leave the front of the shop until late afternoon. Tig had been the first to notice and had asked about it while they all eyed it warily until Brooke had taken a large dish of vanilla soft-serve out to it and scratched it behind the ears as it made short work of the ice cream. After the novelty of the sight wore on for about a week, the other brothers stopped being so amused by it and went back to hitting on the MILFs that dared enter the shop while they were there.
The MILFS enjoyed the attention, he knew that. Hell, he'd fucked one while her kids were at soccer practice just last Thursday. Hearing her scream and moan like she'd never been so thoroughly fucked while he could hear birds chirping and people mowing their lawns while some fucking talk show droned on in the living room was new and a nice change of pace. He fucked her dirty on the kitchen floor again the next day and then after that, it was like it never happened. That was another new thing he kind of liked; women who didn't cling to him after they did the deed. Charming MILFs took it for the fuck it was and left it at that. Sure, they smirked at you when you passed them on the street, but that was it. It was like "Fight Club"-you didn't mention that shit.
But the dog, that was different. Happy kept a semi-close eye on it. It always disappeared around the same time every day, like it followed a damn schedule. He'd just get up from his spot by the door and saunter back up the street and they wouldn't see him again until the following day. He never showed up on weekends, either.
"Where do you think he goes," Chuck asked. Happy didn't even bother to look at him. "The fuck should I know?" And that was the end of it.
And it was suddenly out of sight and out of mind for him for the next five weeks as he buried himself in work at Teller-Morrow. He'd gotten tired of the MILFs quicker than expected and realized it was because he'd tapped most of them. He'd seen a couple of bitches argue out on the street like they were in the parking lot behind the gym back in high school and those types of fights only happened when the bitches were fighting over a guy. And unlike the crow-eaters he fucked, he was always glaringly sober when he fucked MILFs. And he'd always fucked both of them. Putting two and two together wasn't hard. They'd figured out they were all tossing their dick-sucking smirks at the same guy.
So, there he was at Teller-Morrow, working an honest living for the first time in his life and hating every moment of it.
He became vaguely aware of a car door closing somewhere in the parking lot followed by the click of Venus' heels on concrete as she came out of the office while fanning herself with a clipboard. Tig came to stand next to her as he wiped grease of his hands. Tig was strangely protective of Venus in a way that he was only ever protective of his one remaining daughter and he doted on her in the most pussy-whipped way Happy had ever seen. But they made sense and he could dig that. Plus, Venus had a flowery way of speaking that was always very calming and motherly and that seemed like something Tig needed.
So Tig coming to back Venus up when new customers arrived was not something new. "Happy," Tig called, jerking his head for his brother to join him. Happy wiped his hands off and stood, stomping over.
The girl approaching him looked nothing short of average. Her tits were smallish and the skin showing was her arms and her toes as they peaked out under her ripped up jeans. Her clothing was plain. A dark blue-form fitting tee-shirt that didn't even reveal a hint of cleavage. She had long legs, which was a point in her favor, but she was so painfully skinny and tall. And she had what Rat's Old Lady (former?) liked to call "resting bitchface" as she walked toward them confidently. Her dark hair had kind of a reddish tint to it that was different.
She stopped a couple feet in front of them and smiled at Venus then jerked her thumb over her shoulder. "My car is leaking a shit ton of oil. I don't know if it was yesterday or not, but I'm pretty sure that's a bad thing."
"That would definitely be a bad thing," Tig agreed, eying her up and down like he didn't know what to make of her. It was the first time someone hadn't outwardly ogled Venus like she was some oddity in a freak show.
"Well, you have come to the right place," Venus assured her, giving the girl one of her demure smiles, "My guys will fix your car up in no time."
The girl's shoulders sagged in relief. "Oh, good. Because I love my car. Like really love my car. Whatever you have to do, just do it."
"Well, honey, I'm Venus Van Dam," Venus held out her hand and the girl took it without batting an eye. Tig, who had his arms crossed and his head tilted to the side, gave her a tight wave. "Tig Trager."
He gave her a tight nod of the head. "Happy Lowman."
And without batting her eyes or missing a beat as she stared at him just as impassively, "Holly Graham."
And there was silence as the four of them stood there. Holly Graham. Like "hologram". Jesus. Fucking. Christ. And it was clear by the expression on her face that she knew that that was what they were all thinking. But nobody dared mention it. It was a weird name. Like any of them had room to talk.
Venus' smile widened. "Why don't we go start on the paperwork for your car," she asked as she ushered the girl inside. When Tig told him to go pull the car around, she stopped in the doorway. "My dog is in the car."
"We can watch him," Tig offered with a shrug and she shook her head. "No, he won't stay with you. I have to bring him with me. He's not comfortable when I go places without him. Is that okay?"
Tig traded a look with him and then shrugged. She let out a shrill whistle and large black dog muscle its way out of the driver-side window and darted toward them at break-neck speed. He and Tig took an involuntary step back as he came closer. It was dog from Scoops and Happy felt himself involuntarily raise an eyebrow.
The giant dog skidded to a halt before its master and gazed up at her with its ears perked and its tail thumping hard on the concrete. The mutt was huge, with salt and pepper, wiry fur and a long jagged scar over its left eye. It was clear to see it had lost its eyesight in that one eye as the pupil was clouded over. She pointed to a spot next to the door. "Lay down. Stay." He did as he was told immediately and she scratched him behind the ears. "Good boy, Sully, that's my good boy."
His tail thumped even louder and all Happy could do was stare. The girl was weird. He could just feel it. Tig gave him a look as if to say he knew exactly what Happy was thinking before Happy went to go look her car over. When he came back thirty minutes later. Venus was talking animatedly with the redhead.
"Venus," he said gruffly to get her attention and the two women looked up at him. He held his hand out for the clipboard and Venus handed it to him without a word. But she was looking at him oddly, like she was considering something that she really shouldn't be. Holly just watched him take the clipboard with the same blank look she'd been giving him since she'd arrived. Like she couldn't give two shits whether he was there or somewhere else. It bothered him how much he could relate to that. He didn't give two shits either.
She tilted her head at him and looked him over again like she'd just figured something out and she was trying to come to terms with it and then she fucking smirked at him like it was the funniest thing in the world. Fucking smirked. He took the clipboard and stalked away, very keen on getting back to work. He looked down at the dog in the doorway as he stomped by and then at the last second went back into the garage where he filled a paper cup with water and then returned to the dog posted by the office door. Ignoring the women openly staring at him, he crouched down and held the cup out. He watched as the dog greedily lapped up the water and then he crushed the cup once it was done and went back to work. Happy liked dogs.
Venus had their new Prospect, Jimmy, take her home in the rig. Holly let her dog climb in first and Happy had to admit, it was a smart move. She didn't know Jimmy and Jimmy definitely liked to get handsy if he could get away with it. A fierce looking dog like that would keep him in check. Unless he was really just that stupid. Happy was still trying to decide if he wanted to vote the dumbfuck in. But every single second he had to spend around the little fuckwit just inched him that much closer to "no".
The girl's cage was a complete mess. Whoever it was that had sold it to her had fucked her over royally and both Tig and Chibs had tried in vain to persuade her to sell it for scrap and just get a new one because it was that fargone. But she refused. She was adamant that they fix it. It had a name. Paul. And she loved him. So much so that when Chib's had kicked the tire- nudged it, really- and called it a piece of "shite", she had all but screeched at him "Paul is a nice man!" That Holly chick was fucking weird.
Holly Graham knew she was different. Her named alone screamed it at people when she introduced herself. It was one of the things that kept her so aloof, people tended not to give you shit if you didn't care and you pretty much dismissed them when they tried to toss it your way right off the bat.
But pulling into Teller-Morrow had been a breath of fresh air. Venus Van Dam, Tig Trager, Happy Lowman. These were her people. Well, except for Happy Lowman. That man seemed like a douchebag. But Venus and Tig had taken to her immediately and once Venus found out that she lived next door, she was invited to dinner and numbers were exchanged and then she was introduced to Chibs, another man with a strange name, who subsequently introduced her to the woman he was dating, Lyla, who happened to be a former pornstar that was now a producer and director of porn for Red Woody Studios.
Suddenly, life was surreal and wonderful and a lot less monotonous. She had new friends who seemed to really give a shit. Hell, sometimes while she was outside gardening and letting Sully run around the yard like an over-eager puppy, Tig Trager would wander over and make small talk about everything from the always sunny weather all the way up to politics. He even seemed to take a keen interest in her schooling. He even told her about his daughters, Fawn and Dawn. But it didn't escape her notice that when he talked about the latter, he always used the past tense and she knew instinctively that something awful had happened.
Usually, by the end of their talks, he would drag her over to his house and she would end up decked out in an outfit with way too much sequins and feathers and Venus would make her let Venus give her a manicure since she insisted that a lady should always have hands "smoother than the finest silk." And then she'd pawn off some new haircare and skincare products she had bought on some shopping spree that made Tig moan and groan when he found out.
And now that she knew Lyla, she was spending more time with Chibs as well. He didn't show any interest in getting to know her farther than the usual small talk a man usually makes with his girlfriend's friend and she was fine with that. She wasn't really much for talking anyway. Venus, Tig, and Lyla did most of the talking when she was with them and she spent most of her time quietly absorbing everything it was they told her. The three of them talked a lot. Sometimes when Lyla talked to her, Chibs would roll his eyes heavenward and Holly had to try really hard not to smile because Chibs seemed like the kind of guy who couldn't give two shits about anything a woman had to say about shopping or relationships or any number of things, but he always listened to her when she spoke and it didn't take her long to figure out that the president of the local MC was halfway in love with her in a very big way. She liked that; that they could find some good in all the crap they had gone through in the past was a nice thing.
She didn't really know much about the rest of the guys in the MC. Rat was pretty standoffish and it always looked like he was mentally sneering at her. Jimmy always looked like he was undressing her with his eyes and Happy...well, she couldn't get a read on him and she really didn't want to. He just seemed so angry with life in general and he seemed to give as much a shit about her as she gave about him, so she'd just approached that whole thing with a "live and let live" attitude.
And that seemed to work. If she saw him she simply gave him a look that she hoped conveyed she was acknowledging his presence and then went on her way. But he always seemed irritated by her presence. Like her very existence was upsetting to him. Lyla had described him as abrasive, but loyal and friendly once you got to know him. Holly wasn't convinced. Everything about him screamed "trouble". From the snake tattoo on his bald head to the stone cold look in his black eyes that seemed to see every single dirty and dark secret a person could be hiding from the world around them. It was best to stay away.
But he was everywhere. Whenever she had to drop by the shop because Venus or Tig had asked for a favor or because Lyla wanted to meet her there so they could carpool to go shopping, he was there. Sometimes, when Lyla had her come over to sit out on the back porch while she drank wine and bitched about the porn industry, he would be sitting at the kitchen table with Chibs, all angry black eyes and scowling fury while they talked about whatever the hell it was they did in their motorcycle club. A couple of times, he'd even been outside watching Tig grill when she'd been bullied by Venus to take a break from her homework and come eat with them. And she could tell by the way his whole body would tense and he became even more monosyllabic that he was just as displeased with their constant run ins as she was. She hadn't realized that having friends meant she would have to spend time with people she inherently disliked.
"Holly's gonna be a vet when she graduates," Tig bragged and Holly couldn't stop herself from smiling. It was nice to have someone brag about her again. Pop couldn't even remember who she was anymore. Not really.
The dark-skinned man across from them nodded in interest. "So how is it a nice girl like you gets wrapped up with crazy sonsabitches like this man?"
Nero, was one of Venus's closest friends. He'd done more for her than most people would ever do for another human being in their lifetime. He'd come to visit her for the first time in over a year and things were somewhat tense, Holly could see that the mood was lightening just by the way the man spoke with everyone. He spent the entire night ribbing everyone. Except Happy. Happy Lowman made Nero uneasy as well.
"My car broke down," she replied vaguely. "Me and Venus kind of bonded when I brought it in and now I'm stuck with all of them."
"Watch your mouth," Tig warned, though his sharp, blue eyes sparkled with mischief. She gave him a grin. Nero let out a chuckle as he wiped his hands on his napkin. "S'good to see everyone like this," he said with a nod, "sitting around, talking about things. Normal-like."
This was normal? What was abnormal? She must have looked as confused as she felt because Venus laughed at her and patted her hand. "Oh, Darlin', this is most certainly normal by our standards."
"So, Holly," Nero started as their laughter died down, "Your name. Holly Graham. It sounds like 'Hologram'."
"Nero," Venus chastised and Tig slapped his leg as if it were the funniest thing he had ever heard in his life. Holly cringed inwardly. She had only heard that a million times before. At the other end of the table, Happy, who had until then ignored everyone and everything around him in favor of the grilled Porterhouse on his plate narrowed his eyes at Nero and then swung his gaze over to meet hers and raised an eyebrow while he slumped down in his chair. It didn't take a rocket scientist to understand that he'd had more than a few questions about his own name, which was just as, if not more bizarre than her own and he clearly understood the dilemma that posed. Most people didn't and Happy Lowman wasn't like most people.. Happy Lowman was fucking weird.